The Passive Voice

Question

What is the difference between the passive voice, "se", and the passive voice that would work like "El coche fue hecho por Volkswagen". Furthermore, how exactly does the passive voice "se" work?

Answer 1

-Impersonal se -> Something that is "impersonal" is not associated with a specific person or thing as a subject. This occurs with statements that are extremely general, pertaining to people or something else as a whole, most frequently worded as "one" or "people." In English, examples of impersonal statements would be:

How would one translate the following phrase...? They say that opposites attract People should not travel alone

These would be translated like this:

Cómo se traduciría la siguiente frase...? Se dice que los opuestos atraen No se debe viajar sólo

-Passive se -> First, you need to understand the difference between active voice and passive voice. If you already do, excuse the redundancy here as I am going to briefly explain it. Active voice is the form in which most communication is expressed. Passive voice occurs when the direct or indirect object of an active voice sentences is made the subject. Take a look at these examples:

Active voice: I threw the ball. She delivered the letter. Billy and Susan painted the walls.

Passive voice: The ball was thrown. The letter was delivered. The walls were painted.

In Spanish, there are two ways to express the passive voice - 1) past participles as adjectives ->

La pelota fue tirada. La carta fue entregada. Las paredes fueron pintadas.

Or 2) Passive se. It's the same gramatical structure as the impersonal se, but the difference is that there is a specific subject of the sentence.

Se tiró la pelota. Se entregó la carta. Se pintaron las paredes.

In summary, both forms are gramatically similar in that "se" functions as a reflexive direct object meaning itself, hisself, herself, or themselves. The difference is that the impersonal "se" does not have a specific subject and is translated with "one" or "people." The passive "se" specifically refers to a specific subject.

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